Washer/Dryer combs.

[Dustdevil]

My wife and I know nothing about washer/drier units. We've noticed some MHs have both and some have a single combination unit. Are there prefrences for either set up? What would be a normal 'load' that could be put in these appliances? Do they run on 120 v a/c only?
Thanks for any info. or comments.

Dustdevil

[njs42]

We have the combo splendide. It washes small loads and takes it's time drying. It is vented to the outside. My wife wanted this and she uses it frequently but it does not mean we do not hit the laundry on occasion to catch up. She likes it I am ambivalent. It operates fine on 110 volts. The most annoying thing is that on spin cycle it shakes the MH quite a bit.

The stack units I'm sure are bigger and therefore more practical doing larger loads except as to space.

I would prefer the space for drawers; but I am seldom caught doing laundry. But we have the coach I wanted on the chassis I wanted so a WD combo is a good trade for those items I deemed important.

[Steve Ownby]

Originally Posted by Dustdevil

My wife and I know nothing about washer/drier units. We've noticed some MHs have both and some have a single combination unit. Are there prefrences for either set up? What would be a normal 'load' that could be put in these appliances? Do they run on 120 v a/c only?
Thanks for any info. or comments.

Dustdevil

It really depends on how flexible you are willing to be. There are 4 possibilities for washer dryers in motorhomes.
1. Unvented combo unit. These use condensation to dry and use a fair quantity of fresh water while drying.
2. Vented combo unit.
3. Stacked washer dryers with both units 120 vac.
4. Stacked washer dryer with the dryer being 240vac.

My wife and I have lived full time in a motorhome with a vented combo unit for 7 years now and for us, it's the best option. We can do 3-4 pair of jeans or the queen size sheets and pillow cases in one load. We would not give up the space required for the stacked units.

[Selah]

The combo units do small loads. We had one in our previous MH. It worked well and did the job. Although it is capeable of wash and dry automatically, we found that shaking the wet cloths out before the dry cycle helps with wrinkles. We still used camp machines occasionally to do blankets or heavy loads.
Our current coach has the stackable and they work much better. They do bigger loads and can dry while the next load washes. Clothes come out a little less wrinkled. They all take longer to dry than a home unit because they are only 110 volt.
If you have the room then the stackables will do the better job, if not the combo does an acceptable job. I would not have a coach without one or the other.

[docj]

We have an unvented combo and are very pleased with it. People who complain about wrinkling and slow drying usually overload the machines. The user guide is very clear that our unit can wash 15 pounds but can only effectively dry ~11 pounds. If you don't follow the instructions then wrinkles and slow drying will occur.

We happen to prefer the combo because we can put dirty clothes in when we leave in the morning and come home to clean, dry clothes. Furthermore, the area where the dryer would have to be is the largest cabinet in the MH and provides lots of space for all sorts of things.

[phranc]

We have the vented combo Splendide ., As others have said it does an acceptable job.
If we were fulltiming or had the space for a stackable type that would be preferred .
As we part time the combo fits our needs and wallet too. Reliable unit

[wlf00]

We have the combo unit in our coach. Before we got the coach, my wife said that a washer/dryer is definitely one option that she did not want. Storage space was more important. However, we bought the coach off of the lot and it already had the factory installed combo washer/dryer.

Now that we have used it, we like it a lot. When we go on trips in excess of a week or so, it comes in handy for doing small loads of underwear, towels, etc. It also comes in handy when you get caught in the rain and need to dry your clothes.

I agree with njs42 that is shakes the coach quite a bit. For being a small washer/dryer in a fairly large coach, that really surprises me.

I also agree with Selah in that it helps quite a bit to shake the clothes between the wash and the dry cycle. I also added some hooks in the bedroom to hang a clothes line so we can put items on it to dry or finish drying.

[CampDaven]

The W/D discussion has been up and down the hill many times. And each to their own!
And no offense intended to any.
Some folks just like to do laundry at "home", no matter the time and such.

Rather than doing "3-4 pair of jeans ......or the queen size sheets and pillow cases in one load....."..and need to "shake it out".

We hit a good laundry about every 1.5 weeks and load the big front-loader and two dryers with the whole sheebang for less than 8 bucks, and skeedattle in less than 90 minutes. Laundry should NOT be a career, me thinks.

W/D. It is about space, and cost, and weight....and time! And my W/D never breaks!

Just sayin....

Cheers to ya!

[Barbaraok]

I guess we are different in that we only get shaking when I haven't loaded an even number of items, 2 pair of jeans, and 2 t-shirt for example. Or two bath towels and two hand towels, not 2 bath towels and one hand towel - that will get it shaking. We've been fulltiming for over 7 years and wouldn't be without it. Can't do blankets/rugs but do everything else in it. Yes, small loads, but there are only the two of us, we don't go through 2-3 sets of clothes each day, and you don't have to sit and watch the tub go around and around, you do other things while it is washing/drying. I especially like to set the time delay and do the towels while we are sleeping - nice warm towels when I get up in the morning!

Barb

[CampDaven]

"2 pair of jeans, and 2 t-shirt for example. Or two bath towels and two hand towels"
That is 2 "balanced" loads.

Laundromat: about every 10 days, 90 minutes including some shopping, all is done. Cannot imagine doing about 50 pieces of laundry 4 pieces at a time.

Yes, we go to the resort laundry or other nice laundries, and no grease or pet hair.

About 8 bucks; $300/year, and nothing leaks or breaks. Can your dryer run on 8 bucks for 12 loads?

We get it done, then go exploring, sight-seeing, hiking, visiting, ....anything other than the next of a dozen loads.

Just sayin.....

[flaggship1]

Originally Posted by CampDaven

....We get it done, then go exploring, sight-seeing, hiking, visiting, ....anything other than the next of a dozen loads.

Just sayin.....

Some of the finest establishments and interesting people in small town American are found in laundromats. Years ago, I remember waiting our turn at the small laundromat in West Yellowstone. And then again at a huge laundromat at Colter Bay in the Tetons. At Colter Bay Annie and my daughter went horseback riding and left me to do do the laundry. I was still at it when they got back.

Small loads don't bother us and if we get behind or have a need, we can always go the laundromat route. Options are good! No options end up on your to do list and the cloths hamper grows and grows and takes up it's own space.

We are happy to leave the fresh water tank open and toss stuff in and forget it. We are happy if we drop a load or two in a laundromat. But if you have room for it - the combo is nice and stackable probably nicer. Ours came with combo and above it is a cabinet as big as the washer. Will probably build some shelves and install pull outs in there - it's so deep Annie gets on her little collapsable step to get to things in the back.

Too each their own. Just sayin'!
Steve

[JFXG]

We have the vented Splendide combo, 2100XC. It works fine and we're happy with it. These are small machines, compared to home laundries, and are sensitive to overloading. Consequently, the way to keep up is to do a load each day, maybe every other day. If you fall behind-- such as when you have several consecutive travel days, it can take several loads to catch up.

I'm more of an efficiency guy. After four or five travel days, I'd just as soon find a Laundromat, toss it all in one big honkin' machine, and be done with it. DW is a home laundry person, doesn't care for ""public laundries". That's ok, that's a function she has accepted as hers, so she can do it any way she wants. She doesn't care to crawl under or climb onto the coach for maintenance reasons, so I guess it balances out. (when we were first coach shopping, and made our lists of required features, her Number One Item, sine qua non, was "Washer/Dryer". I can't say I wasn't warned! )

[Dustdevil]

Thank you all for your responses and info. concerning wash/drier combos and stackables and Laundromats. Diversity is great! If we all wanted and needed the same thing there would only be one MH builder building one model with one chassis and engine and everything else the same. Kind of boring. My wife is one of those who would like doing the laundry in the MH and if needed stop at the Laundromats.
We went MH shopping today and found that 98% of the used MHs have the Splindide comb 2000 or 2100. Only saw 1 stackable unit.
Again, thanks for caring to share your thoughts on the matter.

Dustdevil (Bill and Missy)

[MSHappyCampers]

Some of you mentioned your W/D combo's shaking. We had that problem when we bought the MH last year. I spent hours trying to get it level but was never able to solve it. I called Splendide and discussed the problem with a tech. One possibility he mentioned was that unit was sitting on carpet. IT WAS! I removed the carpet and leveled the machine. PRESTO, no more shaking! I had bought a set of hold-down brackets so I installed them just for additional insurance.

My only problem now is that the clothes are got getting dry in one 120 minute cycle. I'm gonna clean the external vent pipe to see it that could be the problem.